Growing Up

[Verse 1] Down where the water cuts deep and goes clear We shed our boots with the summer soon here The silt on the bottom and the moss on the stone Was the only kingdom we ever had known. We’d cast out the line where the shadows would lay And pull in the silver at the end of the day. [Chorus] We pledged our friendships to last forever Bound by the bush and the birds of a feather We walked through the days and we asked for no more From the deep running creek to the schoolhouse door Not a care in the world as the hours would stir Just a long golden season where the days are a blur. [Verse 2] We wake with a start to the bright morning sun Eager to embrace what the day has begun To the conquest of games ‘til the light is all spent And we’ve used every ounce of the spirit we’re lent. Famished for dinner as the long shadows creep Then the night pulls us under the blankets to sleep. [Instrumental Break: Melodic acoustic guitar solo, thumb-lead style] [Verse 3] We traded the wild for the desk and the pen And learned of the world and the history of men Some teachers were giants who set us on fire Some were just workers who waited to retire. But the chalkboard was cold while the playground was hot And we learned what we were, and we learned what we’re not. [Outro] The schoolhouse is quiet, the creek's running low, And we’re long past the places where the wild things grow. The games are all finished, the play has been won, Now we walk as the men that those boys have become. The lessons are over, the day is done. [End: Final clean acoustic chord]